


Bull vs Snow | Daniel Ricciardo learns how to ride a snowboard

by komkommertijd



Category: Formula 1 RPF
Genre: Alternate Universe, M/M, Snowboarding, YouTube
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-17
Updated: 2020-02-17
Packaged: 2021-02-28 03:13:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,787
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22776937
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/komkommertijd/pseuds/komkommertijd
Summary: Aston Martin Red Bull Racing just uploaded a new video.OrRed Bull athletes teach another Red Bull athlete how to snowboard for a PR video. This is how said video turned out.
Relationships: Daniel Ricciardo/Max Verstappen
Comments: 5
Kudos: 31





	Bull vs Snow | Daniel Ricciardo learns how to ride a snowboard

**Author's Note:**

> Yes, mom, I had to move Daniel back to Red Bull for this story, else this would not make any kind of sense. Maybe it still doesn't.

Mountains full of snow glistening in the sunshine, empty slopes, an empty chair lift peacefully making its way up the hill. More snow, some trees and then the drone captures the top of the mountain before it tumbles and drops into the snow. Laughter. Black screen. Epic music, close-ups of someone putting on a snowsuit.

_Welcome to Kitzbühel, the most fashionable winter resort I have ever seen. Located in the western Austrian province Tyrol and east of Innsbruck, it is the perfect place to ski and escape the everyday life for a bit. It is also known for the annual Hahnenkamm downhill race, which is the event I attended just last week. Today it's time for me to hit the slopes, with just a little help from some famous teachers._

"Ladies and Gentlemen, boys and girls, children of all ages, welcome at the top of the Hahnenkamm! I don't know whether I said this correctly, it's a weird word. Anyways, as you may see there's heaps and heaps of beautiful snow around me, the sun's out today and it's the perfect day to go skiing or snowboarding. Sadly I never really learned how to do it, but we will change that today. With the help of two other Red Bull athletes, I will, hopefully, learn how to snowboard and you guys can join me on that journey!"

Daniel smiles while he explains the plot of the video, his hands burried in the pockets of his jacket. He is already wearing snowboard boots and a helmet, the blue and silver pattern reflecting the sunlight as he moves his head around. His dark gloves are dangling in the air, only connected to his wrists with an unobstrusive black string and the colorful googles are hanging around his neck. He's not exactly a pro at this.

The frame switches and the camera zooms in on the boots of two people walking through the snow. It's slow-motion, showing the way they put on their gloves and a close-up of someone closing their helmet, the music from earlier is back.

_For the challenge of teaching someone like me how to snowboard we will need good teachers. The best, I might say. Scotty James, 24 years old, world champion and a God on the halfpipe. As a fellow Australian he will join me in Kitzbühel today to show off his skills and teach me how to jump and do tricks. Being a three-time Olympian athlete and one of the top three halfpipe riders in the world, you can expect great things from him._

A few scenes of Scott jumping on the slope, another scene from a snowpark. He stops in front of the camera, smiles and waves before continuing his way down the hill. The next clip shows him taking his helmet off, ruffling his hair and laughing at something off-camera.

_My second teacher today feels more at home when there are no slopes and tourism around. The best free rider in the world, a magician on his board and an unbelievably chill guy. At 22 years, Max Verstappen has already won two Freeride World Tours on his board. Today, he will teach me the basics of snowboarding and how to keep my board under control. Pray for him and his patience, folks._

The camera cuts to Max, sitting in the snow near the slope. He's trying to focus, then he puts on his goggles and gets up. He ignores the camera, jumps over the mogul that divides the slope from natural terrain and returns to the unpaved snow as soon as he can. Another shot from the top of the mountain. Max winks at the camera before he jumps down, making his way through the deep snow off-slope.

"So guys, the first thing I noticed is your bindings. That's what they're called right? Max's look quite different from what I've seen so far." Max nods at what Daniel is saying, a silent affirmation before the other two look at him and the camera zooms in. He puts his board down to lay in the snow and sits down next to it.

"While you two use the more usual binding with straps I chose a step-in binding. Yours is more common and easier to use for beginners. I use the clicker-system, so it's kind of like an imitation of how skiers lock their boots into ski bindings. It's faster and more comfortable but also very useful when I leave the slope. I have a safety leash so I can't lose my board and when I get stuck in deep snow I just undo the safety lock and my board still won't get away. It's kind of tricky at first, so you're using the more common binding here."

Max demonstrates how to step in and out of the binding, lifting the safety look when it's open and showing the purpose of the leash. Daniel laughs when the board pulls Max down the hill, but the snowboarder seems unimpressed and stops the board. Scott sits down next to the others in the snow and explains how Daniel is supposed to get into his binding, as well as getting out of it. 

"Whose idea was it to let you learn snowboarding here anyways? It's not exactly easy if you ask me." Scott looks down the hill, they all laugh when Max turns the camera around to their team. 

Shots of Daniel on the board, slowly sliding down the hill on the backside of the board, Max walking in front of him, holding his hands so he won't lose his balance. They do the same thing on the front side before Max lets go of Daniel's hand, still walking next to him but leaving him to try it out on his own.

_At the beginning of every snowboarder's career stands a slope and some wobbly sliding down the hill. Usually, it takes a few days or even weeks for them to learn how to turn and actually go down the slope without falling. Max wants me to learn all of it in one day. Lord help me._

A timelapse of Daniel and Max, who is now joining Dan with his own board, practicing turns and the sliding on both edges. It almost looks like they are dancing down the slope. Sometimes Daniel falls and they laugh, soon continuing with their training. The next cut shows Daniel laying in the snow, his googles removed from his eyes. He is breathing hard, smiling at the camera for a second before showing how exhausted he already feels. Max complains that they are not done yet in the background, Daniel groans before he gets up, coming closer to the camera. "Let's go, Ladies", he says before sliding over to where Max was waiting for him. The snowboarder looks actually surprised at how confident Daniel's moves look. They fist bump and Daniel loses his balance, falls back into the snow and laughs.

_Snowboarding is exhausting but it's also supposed to be fun. After wasting a few precious hours of Max's life, it's time for me to spend some time with my mate Scott. We leave the practice lift for some self-built ski-jumps or snowboard-jumps in our case. They will do the job, according to our team._

Next is a drone shot of said ski-jumps, the area around it and Scott and Max trying them out. It cuts back to where Scotty and Daniel are standing on top of the mountain. They are stepping into their bindings before the snowboarder begins to explain.

"You've mastered the harder part of this training already and successfully at that, congrats mate. But don't think this is all just chill and joking around now. Jumping is probably the most fun part about snowboarding, but only if you know how to do it. Else it can get pretty painful. The easiest way to jump is to just slide over a ski-jump. For a second you will automatically stay in the air, so it's the most basic and most boring jump. Let's see how you'll deal with it."

The first clip shows Daniel jumping and landing safely, which leads him to lift his arms in triumph. He loses balance, falls and laughs. A few shots from different angels follow before it cuts back to Scott, who explains how to push against the ski-jump to jump a little higher. Again, shots of Daniel trying it. A few successful ones, a few fails, a lot of laughing. 

The last part of jumping with Scotty is the completion of the full parkour. Daniel tries his best, looks a little less confident than earlier, almost falls once but regains balance, cheers after the last jump and gives the camera a wide but exhausted smile.

"Well, thank you guys for taking your time to explain your sport to me. I have to admit it was fun, but I think I need at least three days of sleep now, I'm pretty exhausted." Daniel is still smiling, his board now in one hand and his helmet switched with a dark blue beanie. 

"It was a pleasure to work with you, Dan. Actually, you did better than I expected."

Scott almost gets hit for the last comment, instead, Daniel just laughs and shrugs. He's still a beginner, after all. It's nothing he needs to feel bad about.

"Scotty's right though, you're a fast learner. Maybe you'll have to teach us how to drive a Formula One car one day, we'll see how fast we will learn that then." They all laugh at Max's last words, fist-bumping, before the camera zooms out, switching to a drone shot that keeps moving away from the people on the slope, the full mountain coming into view.

_I learned quite a lot today about snowboarding, about myself and the fact that snow is maybe not as bad as I always thought. I will leave Kitzbühel with new energy, aching muscles and a promise to return. Until then I might prefer speed without massive altitude changes. God, I'm hungry now._

The view fades to black. The video is over. Twenty minutes of aesthetic shots, banter and at least some serious training. 

Daniel chuckles quietly when he sees the comments about him and Max the day after the video was uploaded. He decides that no one needs to know about their dinner date after the video production. Preferably not their boss either. He closes YouTube, content with how the video turned out and the positive feedback, letting himself fall back on the mattress in his hotel room. His fingers find the chain around his neck, sliding across the small blue snowboard connected to it. Max might be worth losing his head for, he thinks.

**Author's Note:**

> This is a mess and I kind of hate it but I really wanted to write it so idk. Here you go, enjoy it, folks :')  
> I might delete it later, so if you're still reading this, consider yourself lucky. Or don't.  
> I really don't know whether this whole... video description worked out the way I wanted it to, but it does make some sense in some way and that's all my brain will come up with today.  
> I'm sorry.  
> Thank you for reading it anyway, I hope someone enjoyed it.


End file.
